‘Bexhill to Bexhill’ is pleased to be a part of the De La Warr crit group’s Bexhill Art Trail NAVIGATE which launches this weekend. Look out for maps around the town and other Coastal Currents paraphernalia.
NAVIGATE
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Category Archives: Bexhill
Hello Bexhill
Article published this week in Canada’s Leader Post (see link for full article)
I am intrigued with the different reactions the project is generating. Having lived with it for nearly a year or more it seems an entirely reasonable thing to do. It is dawning on me, however, that I may be confirming beliefs about the eccentricity of the British.
Heartened by the concern echoed by several in Canada that I may be disappointed, Bexhill is sadly left wanting in Saskatchewan. What I see though is it’s history, the place is linked with the people who worked there, the stories they have and experience of the land. If a locality has a memory, I hope to discover what that might be. In truth I find this one of the most intriguing places I will visit. Potential links with Thomas Brassey only makes it more so.
Article from last week’s Northern Star, Australia (full article can be read here)
Plans developing nicely
Conscious that my posts have been dominated with news of research and detail of Annie Brassey, I am sharing some more today, albeit with reassurance that my own travel plans are developing nicely.
A fabulous day of research has been spent, pouring over journals and photograph albums collated by Annie. I have an emerging sense of her, reading early journals help to make contact more directly with this intriguing woman. More time is to be spent studying these treasures, but for now I’m particularly delighted to learn of her trip to Canada in 1872 which included time in Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec and Montreal as well as the Niagara Falls.
My own travels may be somewhat less luxurious or organised than Lady Brassey’s, but there will be many parallels and cross overs, not least of the places hoped to visit. A more specific itinerary is currently in development and will include train travel that will follow the trail of at least some of Annie’s trip in Canada, before going on to New York (another destination enjoyed by Lady B).
In the mean time, some images from Hastings (England) and the Brassey Institute, named after Annie and her husband. Now the town’s library, it houses some of the journals and photograph albums collected by Lady Brassey:
…and the steps leading down to it (and the seafront which was gloriously sunny and warm today):
She sells sea shells…
Bexhill seafront, photograph Louise Kenward
Bexhill seafront, photograph Louise Kenward
Bexhill seafront, photograph Louise Kenward
In memory of the summer (Monday afternoon)
Bexhill seafront, photograph Louise Kenward
Evidence, despite all contrary indications, that the summer was here, in Bexhill, on Monday. It has been here before and may well be back before June is over.
De La Warr Pavilion, photograph Louise Kenward
De La Warr Pavilion, photograph Louise Kenward
Bexhill seafront, photograph Louise Kenward
Annie Brassey & Bexhill
Brassey Road, Bexhill (UK) photograph by Louise Kenward
The wonderful world of (Lady) Annie Brassey bring tales of extensive voyages to far flung places and philanthropy brought to her doorstep. Born in 1839 her story is as interesting for it’s documentation in history as her achievements. I have had many communications with people well versed in the travels of Thomas Brassey and his politics, but less so of his wife. Equally, there has been much mention of Hastings with regards to the Brassey’s, less so does Bexhill get a mention. Even in the book ‘Sussex Women’ (Kramer, A. 2007) Bexhill is once again overshadowed by Hastings.
The voyages the family went on – in their custom built ship the ‘Sunbeam’ – are well documented in Annie’s books. Originally letters sent home to her father, they were subsequently published and internationally distributed. During these trips Annie collected considerable and varied treasures, often gifts, they were collated and exhibited at her home Normanhurst, Catsfield (arguably closer to Bexhill than Hastings). Open to the public, an admission fee was collected for charity. After Annie’s death the collection from Normanhurst was donated to Bexhill Museum, along with original display cases, and still forms a significant part of the collection on display today.
An excerpt from Julian Porter’s publication (curator of Bexhill Museum) on Annie Brassey gives great insight into Annie, her collection and travels, and the way in which she explored the world (as well as a small insight into his view on how she has been documented in history):
“It is not possible to separate Brassey from the collection; she made it famous, and not the reverse. Brassey’s journeys created the unifying link between disparate objects and the books she wrote continued that connection. The collection, like Brassey’s books, allowed people to share her voyages around the world; the books described the events and the objects made them tangible.” (Julian Porter, 1995).
His view is that she held an attitude of curator more than collector, in the manner she wished to share with others.
While my own travels will not mirror those of Annie Brassey directly (a specially commissioned boat would be rather lovely but sadly beyond budget), she has echoed throughout my research thus far. Family links with the railway and a Brassey farm in Canada, time spent in Australia and her desire for collecting and writing, I am anticipating the inter weaving of her stories in different ways throughout this project.
Normanhurst Hotel, Brassey Road (after it’s namesake in Catsfield). Photograph by Louise Kenward